Study: men ruled by their hormones take stock market risks

Oh, so that’s what happened to the economy (rolls eyes). I don’t know what to make of this. Given what women have had to deal with because of monthly hormonal surges, the idea that men are ruled by their hormones isn’t exactly a novel concept, but this kind stereotyping is useful…how?

The hormone that drives male aggression and sexual interest also seems able to boost short term success at finance. But what seems to start out well can turn bad, with elevated testosterone levels over several days possibly leading to irrational risk-taking, according to researchers at the University of Cambridge in England.

“If people want to get practical, it would be good for both banks and the financial system as a whole if we had more women and older men in the markets,” said John M. Coates, lead author of a study appearing in this week’s issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

OK — now this is worth a belly laugh…

Coates and Herbert’s study comes less than two weeks after U.S. researchers reported that young men shown erotic pictures were more likely to make a larger financial gamble than if they were shown a picture of something scary, such as a snake, or something neutral, such as a stapler.

Money and women trigger the same brain area in men, those researchers said.